How Good Are The Playoffs?

When you read the title of this post, I bet you were thinking about the NBA finals...but that is not what I was referring to. We have all probably watched at least one NBA game this playoff season, but how many have set aside some time to watch the NHL playoffs? If you haven't you should, because this years playoffs have had everything we could ask for.

This is tough because the NHL is the NHL and this is the U.S.A. and no matter how entertaining and how exciting hockey is, it will never supplant the top 3 sports. But that doesn't mean some good hockey should go unnoticed and in this years 2009 NHL playoffs, there has been some phenomenal hockey being played.

We have the 8 seeded Anaheim Ducks taking down the top seeded San Jose Sharks which as we know, is a Cinderella story that would be enough to hook viewers. Add to that countless games heading into overtime (10 thus far), including a 4 OT thriller between the Ducks and Redwings in the second round. There was also a HUGE controversial call in game 3 of the Ducks-Redwings series that potentially changed the entire playoff picture. Put it this way, the goal that was disallowed in game 3 was such a bad call that if it was in an NFL or NBA or MLB playoff game, the web and sports shows would be inundated with uproar. But its hockey, so the shows mentioned it and now lets move on! Believe it or not, there is even more awesomeness in this years NHL playoff picture because the two best and most popular players Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby (who btw appear to strongly dislike each other) have their teams going at it in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and both players have lived up to their respective hype culminating in each of them netting hat tricks in a wild game 2.

These are just a few of the memorable moments that we have already witnessed in the 2009 NHL playoffs and we are only half-way through the 2nd round. So if your NBA or MLB team isn't playing, search your cable for Versus (which may be more difficult than you think) and tune in to a hockey game because chances are it will be more entertaining than NBA playoff game will be (now that the Bulls-Celtics series is over).